Never in my life have I seen so much hubbub over a President's death...

[Kazak]

Aren't the media now obligated to fall all over themselves when Ford dies? Carter? Clinton?

I think this is out of hand. The man was 93...he died...people die...drop it already.

[pinkpops]

1. They won't feel obligated at all

Reagan was "special"

[smirkymonkey]

44. I'll say...

[RummyTheDummy]

2. All of it serves to underscore that it's good it happened now

Personally I thought he'd check out about 5 minutes after the gavel went down on the Dem convention. Had that happened the convention wouldn't even be covered by the networks. You know that was what Rove and the rest of BushCo. were hoping. In the middle of June, I couldn't care less how much attention they give it. In a nation of mindless idiots, it will be forgotten a week from now.

[DenverDem]

3. Absurd

Only the catastrophic Kennedy assassination received this kind of coverage, and it didn't go on for a freaking week, either.

Partisan ideologues whoring out the poor man's death to get close enough to steal the next election.

Don't get me wrong, raygun was a criminal who should have died in prison, but let him leave for hell in peace.

[Warpy]

24. You hit the nail on the head

The old bastard wanted to outdo Kennedy. I'm afriad that it's going to backfire. The whole nation was in shock when Kennedy's casket was pulled through the streets of Washington. Reagan was ancient, his death was fully expected, and this dog and pony show is ridiculous.

People around here are complaining bitterly about all this nonsensical wailing and gnashing of teeth by the news {sic} media. Everybody wants the old fart planted and the hooplah done.

[Rick Myers]

4. The flyover!!! Jeebus!!!

Looks like a funeral of Kruschev or something!!!

:grr:

[shraby]

6. It's a Hollywood funeral!

What else can you expect?

[scarletwoman]

7. You've just nailed it, actually.

WE are now the Soviet Union. I'm only surprised that they haven't preserved Reagan's body and put it on permanent display ala Lenin.

sw

[earthside]

19. Exactly ...

Exactly. This is a Soviet Union style funeral.

:puke::puke::puke::puke::puke:

It really is obscene.

I mean they buried President Kennedy in three days, right?

This is positively un-American. This is the kind of funeral the Communists had for for Stalin and Brezhenev.

The Reagan funeral is getting just plain creepy.

More proof that there is something seriously wrong with the soul of this nation.

:puke::puke::puke::puke::puke:

[NMDemDist2]

5. i just want to know where all the troops lining the route came from

aren't we stretched thin?

[Nashyra]

18. Why the surprise

Did we not all know this was going to happen? I'm just glad that he died now rather than closer to the election. All this hoopla turns off many more than it turns on and ultimately the comparisons to the * will make him look like an idiot. It is way over the top but most will forget about it in a week. Although the fact that Kerry visited Regan and suspended campaigning will not be lost on a lot of swing voters as a sign of respect.

[NMDemDist2]

25. Nancy looks like they've got her doped to the gills to

handle all this

[indie_voter]

8. Jon Stewart on the Daily Show a couple days ago

had some great commentary about this.

He said (paraphrasing badly) Carter and Ford must be watching thinking to themselves "we won't get this". He suggested the two of them die together after rushing in to a burning building to save a baby. Maybe then they would get a fraction of the mourning.

Does anybody wonder if this Reagan hysteria will backfire?

[DNA]

23. I suspect it already is

By now, people not old enough to remember Reagan must associate him exclusively with incredibly boring TV.

[patrice]

9. There have to be a few people who were previously neutral

about Reagan, like the young, who are watching this go on and realizing how extreme, and maybe even psychotic, this is.

[LibDemAlways]

10. Couldn't agree more.

This is beyond ridiculous. Back in 1963 Kennedy was assassinated on a Friday and buried three days later. Later that week came Thanksgiving, and people went on about their lives.

The death of an elderly man from Alzheimers is sad, but common. With all the carrying on, you'd think he had been expected to live forever and that it is some sort of major shock or trauma that he died. Enough already. Message to media: Give it a rest.

[mopaul]

11. a roman spectacle.......and epic motion picture extravaganza

the death of ceasar, starring the just dead ronald reagan in the greatest role ever played by a dead actor.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

12. Eisenhower and Johnson....was it the same?

I dont seem to recall this level of hoopla..but I was pretty young back then.

[elperromagico]

13. Clinton's still popular enough to merit this kind of treatment,

but how will the media cover Clinton's legacy? Will they show deference, only interviewing his friends and aides, as they've done with Rappin' Ronnie Reagan, or will they bring on his enemies and detractors? Will Ann Coulter be a guest on every show? Will they ignore Monicagate as they've ignored Iran-Contra? Or will Monica Lewinsky appear on the evening news to dish the dirt?

I wonder... when it's Clinton in that flag-draped coffin, with a riderless horse behind him, how will the media react?

[LibDemAlways]

20. If there's some indication that Clinton is about to

enter eternity, you can bet the repukes will ram through a special law applicable only to Dems that any President who has been impeached is to be denied a state funeral or any funds for a funeral.

The media will trot out Limpballs, Hannity, Timmy the whore, and Whoreilly to sneer their way through the proceedings -- which will not be broadcast live, but will be condensed into a 30-minute "special" to be televised on c-span 3 at 3:30am - one week after the event.

[mmonk]

14. No the media won't feel obligated

since Reagan is the only one that will ascend to the right hand of the Father.

[buff2]

15. I agree

It's a tad different when it's a tragedy,like them being shot or something......but Geesus Khrist.....the man was 93 years old. He lived a much longer life than most people. I've never seen anything like this since the Monica Lewinsky fiasco. The media sucks....we miss out on so much that's going on in this world because of the media whores and their sick obsessions. Death and sex......it's all they care about. :puke:

[Malva Zebrina]

16. He was 93 years old and left this world at least ten years ago

I mean, you have got to know the Repubs have been planning this entire extravaganza show for years.


Reagan was not gypped out of life at all--as many are when they die at the age of thirty or so.

He died an old man, helpless, incontinent,babbling, recognizing no one and nothing in his surroundings, unable to do a thing for himself, and needing constant supervision twenty four hours a day constantly for at least the past ten years. Lucky for his family they could pay for him to be cared for at his own home.

And we see this extravaganza, and it is beginning to look cheap and trite. Especially when Bush appears.

[Kazak]

28. It's really getting transparent now.

I don't think this is gonna do much for 'em...

[outinforce]

29. "He Died An Old Man,...."

"He died an old man, helpless, incontinent,babbling, recognizing no one and nothing in his surroundings, unable to do a thing for himself, and needing constant supervision twenty four hours a day constantly for at least the past ten years"

Yeah.

The old fart should have just saved us all the inconvenience and kicked off ten years ago.

How dare he live to be an old man!

Get all those old farts out of the way! Especially those that are helpless, incontinent, babbling, recognizing no one and nothing in his surroundings, etc. Why should they be allowed to live?! All they do is take up space and consume precious resources! Get rid of them all!

[Malva Zebrina]

30. You have completely missed the point

perhaps it was too subtle a point for you

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[argonne]

32. I agree!

When he was 83, Reagan in his last moment of lucidity, should have told Nancy to establish residency in Oregon, fly him there, and end it.

I'm serious. I'd do it to me in a minute.

[in_cog_ni_to]

17. The Dems need to speak up!

They need to say the repukes are milking a 93 year old man's death for political gain. Come on! This has to stop! I wonder what the cable network ratings have been? I haven't watched any of them since Saturday and I know many DUers haven't either. :shrug:

[bluedog]

27. enough already

Bush and the Republicans are beginning to repulse me with this.

First they are completely rewriting history, making Reagan the next best thing to Jesus,

. You'd think he was the only President to ever die. It is beginning to get disgusting.

When you have to run on a dead guy its disgusting.

Every time Bush is speaking now it is around dead people.and the idea to kill more people......

this is a big farce and full of RW media pushing lies!!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

21. The last time I saw this was when JFK was assassinated....

...that story completely dominated the news until the day of his funeral and burial in Arlington Cemetery. Oswald being shot to death on live television a couple of days after JFK's death just added to the craziness.

And yes, for all of the folks that have made remarks about the riderless horse with reversed boots, that too was part of the funeral procession to Arlington.

For more information on the funerals of presidents:

<http://www.komotv.com/stories/31598.htm>

Excerpt:

"President Kennedy's funeral in 1963 was modeled after Abraham Lincoln's, as requested by Jacqueline Kennedy in her first public statement after her husband's assassination.

Historians pored over musty documents in the middle of the night by flashlight - the Library of Congress' automatic lights could not be rigged to come on after hours - as the stunned country waited for a plan.

Reagan's family also may be looking to history:

*Nine presidents lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda; all but two had served in Congress. Reagan did not.

*Seven presidents have had funeral processions down Pennsylvania Avenue, including all four presidents to have died by assassination: Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and Kennedy.

*Kennedy and William Howard Taft are the only two presidents buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Only sitting presidents or their immediate families have lain in state in the White House.

Ex-president John Adams did not even lay in the White House, even though he died while his son, John Quincy Adams, was president. The older Adams, the country's second president, and Thomas Jefferson, the third, died on the same day - July 4, 1826 - which perhaps complicated Adams' chances for a White House viewing."

[RoBear]

22. He's burning in hell.

Except I don't believe in hell. Wish I did, because he's more deserving of the place than any president we've had. We do love to adore our posturing prevaricators!

[DebJ]

26. they are doing this to keep away important news: like Asscrofts

testimony and Contempt of Congress

[Disturbed]

31. Nixon

Wonder what hoopla he would have had this week?

It should say, "I am not a crook." on his tombstone.

The Rethugs will use Raygoon at their convention.

[Baltimoreboy]

33. An important note

He was a two-term president. Carter and Ford can't expect the same treatment because they were not.

[bearfartinthewoods]

34. you are reacting to the "coverage" not the actual arrangements

There is nothing obscene about the actual arrangements. Of course he would lie in state in CA because he was a CA gov who went on to be prez. Of course he would lie in state in DC because he was president. The thing that is different in the all news stations covering every second of every move.

BTW>>>when Kennedy was killed, IIRC, there was NOTHING on ANY channel other that the ceremonies.

[bushwakker]

35. I knew it would be bad...but not this bad

I always knew RR's death would be a GOP media bonanza but this is beyond my expectations. It's all being driven by the upcoming election. Most of this crap is about pushing Shrub's re-selection not about honoring Reagan.

[nomaco-10]

36. It's become a horrific media circus....

All the major news networks have a camera trained on the coffin 24/7, I guess in case he decides to rise up from the dead and take a walk on top of the Reflecting Pool. I can't take watching the blubbering fools milling around the Capitol, dragging their small children and making them stand four or five hours in 90 degree heat, is just more than I can bear to watch. Hell, I've even seen some of the idiots go down on their knees and cross themselves in front of the casket, it's disgusting.

I missed Biden going off on Ashcroft yesterday and can't even find a clip on any station today. Remember Abu Graib? The memos that could be the smoking gun about the sanctioning of torture that could go up as far as bush*, the Wilson/Plame investigation. NADA, nothing, it's non stop Raygun mania all day and night. The news media has really jumped the shark.

[theboss]

37. Welcome to the 24/7 newsworld

The last time we had a state funeral, there were 3 networks. Now CNN, FOX, CNBC, MSNBC and the like need to fill time.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

39. It's the perfect time for them to take a break, fluff and fill,

remove their lips from this administration's ass and apply some Chapstick.

[Shopaholic]

40. The NY Times today has a story about the ratings for this circus

and they aren't good. The cable networks had a much bigger bump in the ratings when they captured Saddam, indicating to me that people are largely uninterested in the 24-hour RR love-fest. Johnson was also buried within 72 hours. This week long extravaganza has passed the point of ridiculous. And do they have to have a ceremony at every friggin stage of the proceedings? Leave it to the Reagans & the Repugs to go completely over the top with this dog and pony show. And leave it to the Cable networks to promote Reagan to sainthood. I lived through those years--I remember how bad a president he was and to me, it's irresponsible to leave the impression that he was anything other than what he was--a Hollywood actor playing the role of his life--and badly at that.

[molly]

38. I guess this blows the myth about the

"librul" media.

[Kazak]

42. I was thinking the exact same last night.

The next time I hear that crap, I'm going to bring up how they seemed to give Reagan a pretty good treatment.

[tom_paine]

43. This is Totalitarian Pravda, nothing more

Looking at it this way, the actions of the "liberal media" seem quite...normal.

All those other Presidents died during the Old American Republic, and thus cannot be compared to what goes on in Imperial Amerika today.

[smirkymonkey]

45. Necrophilia en masse

It is now getting past the point of inappropriate. It's downright creepy. Put him in the ground already.